The 29-year-old defence-man for the Vancouver Canucks grew up in Grimsby and until a couple of years ago, maintained a summer residence there.

Recently, he was shooting the breeze with some of his Canucks teammates when the topic of hometowns came up and Bieksa was quick to recall his days in Grimsby.

"I was talking to a couple of the guys this morning about our lifestyles growing up and for me it was hockey, hockey, hockey," Bieksa said earlier this week before the Canucks dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Buffalo Sabres. "I had two brothers and we spent the majority of our time at the rink.

"My dad coached all three of us. It was one of those childhoods where you went to the rink and played hockey, then went home and played road hockey. You'd wake up the next day and go to school and then do the same thing all over again. It was an enjoyable childhood."

Bieksa, who is earning $3.5 million this season, loved growing up in a small town.

"It was one of those things where you kind of know everybody in the town because you play hockey against them at some point or your brothers did," he said. "Hockey is pretty much everything.

"Walking down the street you see someone and it's, 'See you at the game tonight.' It's a lot different than growing up in a big city, that's for sure."

Bieksa played some of his minor hockey at the old Peach King Arena.

"It's not there anymore," Bieksa said. "The new one isn't the new one anymore. The new one is old, too.

"We called it a new one when I was a kid. That was 15-20 years ago. I know they put the new extension on a few years ago. It's funny how we still call it the new arena."

Bieksa even married a Grimsby girl.

"All my family is still in Grimsby," Bieksa said. "My wife (Katie) is from Grimsby. I've known her for 20-plus years. We grew up together. Both our families are back home between Grimsby and Smithville. Everyone in the family is still there."

Bieksa had a chance to catch up with some of his family when the Canucks were in Toronto last week, meeting at his grandparents' place in Hamilton for dinner.

Bieksa attended Blessed Trinity Secondary School.

"I was in the second class ever," he said proudly. "It was a small school when I went there.

"There were only 30 people when I started in high school."

Bieksa, who first donned skates at 18 months of age on a frozen area of Lake Ontario, played minor hockey in his hometown before moving to Stoney Creek to play AAA and then on to the Burlington Cougars of the Ontario Provincial Hockey League. From there, he was drafted by the Mississauga IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League, but instead accepted a scholarship to Bowling Green.

"I went to OHL camp with Mississauga, but it was one of those things where I made the decision at the time that school would probably be the best option for me, give me a few more years to develop," said Bieksa, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in finance. "I kind of always wanted a fall-back plan.

"I didn't want to put all my eggs in one basket. In case the NHL didn't work out, I wanted to have something to fall back on, so it made sense."

Bieksa, who was drafted by the Canucks in the fifth round of the 2001 draft, joined the Vancouver organization for the 2004-05 season and made his NHL debut the next season.

He quickly established himself as a legitimate NHL defenceman who combined toughness with offence. He's scored in double digits in two of his seasons and had a strong showing last season in the playoffs as the Canucks defeated the Los Angeles Kings in six games before being defeated by eventual Stanley Cup winners Chicago in six games in the second round.

Bieksa has been happy the way the Canucks have started off this season. They are 10-4-12, including eight wins in their last 10 games. They wrap up a five-game road trip Wednesday in Pittsburgh before returning home.

"It's been a good start for us," Bieksa said. "It's been a good trip for us out east. A lot of the guys come back and get to see family and friends.

"If that's the reason for the extra jump in our step, but we have a lot of people coming out to see us."